Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) are national databases of chemical releases reported by industry to governments. The importance of pollutants to health is well documented, however the use of PRTR data to study relationships between health outcomes and pollution has not been evaluated. A preliminary literature search found few published studies that used data from the Canadian PRTR. Understanding past uses of PRTR data is important in the evaluation of their applicability to future health studies.